There is an overstated need in the industry to provide container and box arrangements to store and hold articles in a pickup truck bed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,774 to Whatley; U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,624 to West; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,944 to Waters, which are incorporated by reference for their supportive teachings, show just a few of the proposed schemes for pickup truck mounted boxes and associated mounting structures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,092, to Cheney, is also incorporated by reference.
The theft of valuable articles from vehicles is an ever increasing reality of modern life. Thieves are particularly attracted to certain types of valuable articles. For example, many persons desire to keep sporting good articles, such as rifles, shotguns, and fishing rods, in a vehicle at all times to be ready for immediate use. Such sporting goods are particularly attractive targets for thieves and, due to their elongated size, cannot be effectively hidden (for example by covering with clothing), in a vehicle which does not have a securable trunk space.
The need for providing secure storage in a pickup truck, or other vehicle without a trunk space, is recognized in the art. Even further, U.S. Pat No. 4,809,897 to Wright, also incorporated by reference for its illustrative teachings, provides a lockable storage compartment for use in a vehicle cab; thus recognizing the need for secure storage even inside a locked vehicle compartment.
There are, however, many disadvantages associated with the prior art designs. Disadvantageously, the Wright reference is unusable for storage of elongated, generally flat sporting goods such as rifles and fishing gear. Also, the device disclosed in the Wright reference does not effectively protect articles from damage due to impacts and provides inadequate protection from the weather if it were ever mounted exterior of the vehicle cab.
Additionally, the previously available storage devices provide inadequate security form theft, do not sufficiently protect valuable articles from damage, and/or are inconvenient to use.
Still another disadvantage of conventional vehicle storage boxes lies with the closing and securing of the lid to the main base compartment. To close the lid and secure it, the user must exert all the necessary force needed to lower the lid into its proper position for locking. This can be burdensome when items in the box offer any resistance because the box is too full. There is nothing in the design of conventional boxes to facilitate the closing and securing of the lid to the base compartment when the box is too full.
In view of the forgoing, it would be an advance in the art to provide a vehicle mounted storage box with a secured compartment for holding and protecting valuable sporting goods and other such articles from theft and damage and which is convenient to use. It would also be an advance in the art to provide a vehicle storage box that could be completely opened from either side of the vehicle. It would be yet another advancement in the art to provide a vehicle storage box that facilitates closing and locking of an overfilled box, thus alleviating the need for the user to exert all necessary force needed for closing and securing the lid.